


Steps Toward Happily Ever After

by Mindiangrowl



Series: Happily Ever After [1]
Category: The Mindy Project
Genre: F/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2014-03-23
Updated: 2014-04-18
Packaged: 2018-01-16 19:43:38
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 10
Words: 17,732
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/1359526
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Mindiangrowl/pseuds/Mindiangrowl
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Danny and Mindy's Journey from friendship to something more . Will contain scenes/dialogue from season 1 and of season 2 including 2x14, story is more in depth then summary. This was previously posted in three parts, I've decided to split it into ten parts like the revised version on ff.net</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Prologue

**Author's Note:**

> I received a warm reception to my other TMP story and have decided to post in this fandom again. So this was the first TMP fic that I ever wrote, the beginning doesn't contain a lot of dialogue, the story itself is pretty reflective , because its basically a chronological piece of Mindy and Danny's journey from friendship to something more. Be advised this is unbetaed I've done my best to edit this, and I hope you like it.  
> -P.Rom

"Just a second!" Mindy called out upon hearing her door bell buzz, signaling her date's arrival. She was adding some last minute touches to her hair and make up . Pressing her lips together after she added red lipstick , she walked out of her bathroom and toward the front door of her apartment, which she promptly opened.

"You're early!" She said annoyed,to the person on the other side of the door.

"By only five minutes..you look beautiful by the way." Danny said bouquet of her favorite flowers in hand, crooked smile on his face.

"Are those for me? Thank you Danny they're beautiful, I guess I should put them in water or something."

Mindy said motioning for him to enter the apartment and heading toward her kitchen , her annoyance over his early arrival already gone. In fact she had anticipated it ,knowing how punctual Danny Castellano liked to be, but she'd never admit that to him.

" I just realized I don't actually own a vase, will a really tall glass work?" Mindy asked.

" Seriously, how do you not own a vase?" Danny asked, thinking with all the dates she'd gone on in the years he'd known her, he would have thought at least one of those guys had given her flowers.

" Well, no one I've dated before ever gave me flowers, so I guess I never needed one." Mindy said as a matter of fact.

" Well those guys were idiots, who never deserved you." Danny said, which made Mindy smile.

Mindy placed the flowers in the large glass cup she'd bought when she'd decided to start drinking long island iced teas. Which weren't really her thing, but she kept the glass anyway. She then walked over to Danny and gave him a quick yet sensual kiss on the lips.

" What was that for?" Danny asked grin on his face.

" Just cause." Mindy said with a smirk.

"Hmm, I like kissing just cause." Danny said pulling her close and reconnecting his lips with hers. They kissed for a few more minutes, when Mindy broke the kiss by reluctantly tearing away from him.

" As much as I like kissing you, don't we have a reservation or something." Mindy said, a little out of breath.

"Yeah, you're right,there will be plenty of time for this later, we should go." Danny said, he had a whole evening planned and as much as he wanted to stay and ravish her mouth with his, he couldn't let all the planning he'd put in for their evening go to waste.

" Why are you so sure you'll get lucky tonight?" Mindy said teasingly.

" Come on, look at me, I'm irresistible ." Danny said with a smirk.

" That may be true, but not as much as me, but we should go." Mindy said winking at him before sashaying her hips as she walked away from him and toward the door .

Danny couldn't help but take a second to check out her ass, a sight he never grew tired of, before following her. Mindy locked the door then laced her fingers with Danny's before walking with him down the hallway. Neither said a words as they both thought back to the road they'd taken to get to this point.


	2. The First Steps

It all started in the club. The offices club night was the first time she glimpsed the real Danny, the one hidden underneath the anger, distrust and loneliness, the Danny before Christina. There had been that brief, but significant, moment when she'd approached him on the dance floor. Even after a couple of hours she was still impressed by the way he lit up the dance floor.

Despite all the gorgeous women around him,including Shauna. He'd asked _her_ ,if she wanted to grab a drink. She had declined ,her sights set on the VIP area. She had been so focused on meeting someone new, she'd missed the quick flash of disappointment on Danny's face and in his voice, before he quickly recovered. He'd gone back to dancing, eventually hooking up with the curly haired brunette, and she started her trajectory toward the disaster that was her relationship with Josh.

Then came his very brief stint as her gynecologist . The first time he'd denied any un-lamp like feelings for his slightly eccentric co-worker. Danny had gone into that situation certain he could prove Mindy Lahiri wrong, that she was nothing but an annoying over sharing co-worker, but in the end he'd lost . Yes ,she was all those aforementioned things, but he couldn't completely deny that she had started to affect him personally , that some how she'd started to slip past his defensive barriers.

Months passed and slowly their friendship started to develop, hidden underneath the back and forth banter that seemed to happen anytime they were near each other,even in passing . Christmas rolled around and Mindy announced that, that year she and her boyfriend Josh would be hosting the Shulman and associates Christmas party. Danny had no intention of going. No one in the office had met Mindy's latest boyfriend, and even if the guy did exist he didn't want to meet him.

Somehow, as Mindy always managed to do, he found himself giving in to her ,by not only attending, but contributing with a homemade lavishly decorated ginger bread house. He had planned to drop off the ginger bread house then head off , but again she convinced him to defer from his plans. He was finding it harder and harder to resist her undeniable 'charm'.

He had started to feel a little uncomfortable after the infamous Josh made his grand appearance, impressing everyone , himself not included, and knew that it was time for him to make his exit.

Heading into Mindy's bedroom in search of his jacket, she suddenly appeared in the room with him. After a little small talk, him admitting he was also seeing someone , Mindy interrogating him about it, the party took a turn. It turned out Josh wasn't the amazing boyfriend he seemed to be , in fact he was a big fat liar and a cheater.

Again Danny's plan to make a quick exit were deterred. A part of him was being pulled toward his plans with his current girlfriend, but the other just couldn't leave Mindy alone to deal with Josh. She wasn't thinking clearly and a blow up with Josh, especially in front of everyone she worked with, wasn't the way to go.

Taking her outside to calm down didn't work. In fact it made things worse, when he'd accidentally dialed the number of the woman Josh was cheating with, from Josh's phone. Everything seemed to calm down and Danny was ready to again be on his way, but he just couldn't leave , not yet. He went back inside coming to the rescue during Mindy's hostess Christmas speech.

Just when it looked like everything was looking up, in burst the woman from Josh's phone and everything went to hell. The ending result was a drawer and water on the kitchen floor,a broken microwave door, a handcuffed Heather, a slightly bruised, embarrassed and heartbroken Mindy, and a partially destroyed painstakingly built ginger bread house.

In the end, Danny, and her other friends came through to cheer her up and he never did make his other plans, but he should have figured out the minute he'd arrived that he wouldn't be leaving. Mindy had managed to push a little bit more through his barriers and it was getting easier to do.


	3. Love and Friendships

Their banter filled friendship continued and Danny started seeing Jillian aka eye patch, who he'd met when he took Gwen to the ER after an incident with a bunk bed. While Mindy struggled to find a way to balance her crazy work hours and a romantic relationship or a no strings sex life. Mindy ended up finding the latter when she started secretly seeing Brendan Deslaurier the midwife from a floor above, and the practices arch enemy. That 'relationship' though didn't end well and led her to Jaime. Jaime was a great guy, he was cute funny, and they had a lot in common , but there was just one little thing, or rather person that got in the way, Lucy, his 'best friend'.

Danny and Jillian ended up breaking up, which sent Danny into a tail spin. Following a disastrous double date with Jaime and Lucy on valentines day, Mindy was again able to see another glimpse of pre-heartbreak Danny. It seemed there had once been a romantic side to Danny, proof of which was carved into the table of his favorite pizza place. That was essentially their first V-day together ,platonic as it may have been , him opening up to her was yet another stepping stone.

Mindy's birthday came around, a roller coaster of a night ending up with Danny in the hospital. The minute she saw the text from Morgan her heart started pounding with worry and she rushed to the hospital, guilt running through her mind that Danny had gotten hurt while out looking for her. She thought the pain would disappear when she saw that Danny was alright. Surprisingly she found that there was a pang of hurt , when she thought about the possibility of it really being something worse than a fractured ankle. What if he'd slipped into a coma, or worse died! Snapping herself out of those depressing thoughts she walked down the hospital corridor , and that's when she bumped into Brendan Deslaurier.

Mindy had been really surprised to see him, even more by his extremely thoughtful present, but not as surprised as Danny was when he saw Brendan kiss her. He felt hurt , angry, and betrayed all at the same time. At that time he couldn't fully understand why, or rather he wouldn't let himself understand, that seeing Mindy with another man, especially one he didn't respect professionally and personally, had made him jealous.

Which is why, even though he was dating Mindy's friend Alex, Mindy's secrecy about Brendan caused him to lash out and not invite her to the dinner party he and Alex were throwing. His excuse had been that he didn't want her showing up with some random guy. The truth was he couldn't stand to see her show up with any guy, especially since said guy would probably end up being a jerk, or a two timer or some other crazy thing. It always ended with the guy breaking Mindy's heart ,and Danny would be left to deal with it, to hear her go on and on about what could have possibly gone wrong. She would do this during office hours no less, when he liked to focus on his work , like normal people , and not on the personal lives of others .

Danny had been right. Mindy had shown up with a guy, who ended up being a prostitute, and Mindy's over sharing had led to Alex ending things with him. So he didn't mention he was divorced, Mindy still had no right to tell Alex. He'd gone on to say some hurtful things to Mindy that he immediately regretted. After talking it out with Morgan, Mindy the good friend that she was acted like nothing had happened. The next day, they were back to their back and forth banter,.

The next few months of their lives would bring them even closer culminating to the removal of that ever looming barrier, starting with an airplane ride that would later lead to everything changing .


	4. Planes,Trips and Exes ,OMG

And then there was their trip to Santa Fe. Mindy was currently dating Casey Pearson. a christian minister she'd met on the subway. Things were going great with Casey and Mindy, it seemed like she'd finally found a nice stable guy who was actually as he seemed.

Mindy was gearing up for her, Jeremy,Morgan and Danny's trip to a medical conference in Santa Fe. That's when she got a call from the not so distant past. Josh, her philandering ex-boyfriend was living near Santa Fe and he wanted to talk to her. Mindy had no intention of seeing Josh, but Casey, the good guy that he was, thought it would be a good idea to get some kind of closure.

Danny though, thought it was a horrible idea and he was quite vocal about it on the plane. In his opinion closure wasn't necessary and anything to do with Josh would just lead to trouble. In the end Mindy did end up going to see Josh, and not so surprisingly Danny found himself driving her there, after she tried to sneak off during the conference .

What was surprising though was where Josh lived, he was in a rehab facility. Mindy was finally able to put the missing pieces together of what went wrong in their relationship. Josh also gave her some insight into herself. Apparently Mindy was sometimes blind to things that were right in front of her face. Things like Josh's erratic behavior, which clearly hinted at his drug use . Out of all the surprising things Josh had revealed, his assumption that she and Danny were a couple was the most surprising.

In the moment she'd shook it off as nothing, but she couldn't stop thinking about Josh's assumption. The thought of her and Danny as a couple mingled in the back of her mind during the remaining length of the conference, as well as on the plane. As she tried to shake the thought from her head, heavy turbulence struck and she instinctively reached for the thing that would make her feel safe, Danny's hand.

It appeared his instinct was synched with hers because in that exact moment he reached for her hand too. Mindy couldn't believed she'd grasped his hand. The part of her that remembered it was Danny made her pull her hand away. Danny quickly grasped her hand wrapping it tighter with his , asking if she was ok before letting go. Just as quickly as he let his barrier slip completely he put it right back up, but it was long enough to create a slight shift in their dynamic.

Neither said a word to the other the rest of the flight, but once in awhile Mindy would glimpse at him like she was trying to figure out a puzzle. These glances would occur when he wasn't looking of course, and unbeknownst to her, he was doing the same.

They were back in the office and when asked how their trip was, they shared a look and shy smiles. Unfortunately the moment was interrupted by someone from Danny's past, his ex-wife Christina.

Danny resisted at first, but gradually he agreed to try again with his ex-wife, while Mindy and Casey grew closer. Casey then announced that he would be going to Haiti to do missionary work and that he would be gone for a year. Mindy didn't want to end things with him. Casey was her first solid relationship in a long time , so they decided that they would have a long distance relationship.

A long distance relationship however proved harder then she anticipated, and Casey hadn't even left yet. Mindy impulsively said she wished she could go with him ,and that led to her deciding that she would indeed go with him.

First though, came the camping trip. Danny was taking Christina camping . Somehow Mindy and Morgan had worked their way into the trip and the five of them found themselves camping. The trip started off fun enough, until Mindy started to seriously think about how it would be living in a tent with Casey for a whole year. While Danny asked Christina to move in with him.

Mindy leaving for Haiti with Casey was official and a bon voyage party was thrown for the happy couple at Danny and Christina's place. Mindy though was feeling less and less certain about going, in fact she was fairly certain she didn't want to go to Haiti. Yes ,she cared deeply about Casey, but every time she thought about what it would entail being away from New York, she cringed.

She was taking comfort in her going away cake, when Danny found her in his room. He was going through his own crisis. He was freaking out about how fast things were going with his ex-wife. As he always seemed to do in times of extreme stress he turned to smoking, dropping the cigarette and lighter once he spotted Mindy sitting on the floor. She was holding a whole cake platter, a large square piece of it missing , a silver fork in hand .

She and Danny started to discuss men, and moving too fast. That's when she got an idea of how to get out of going to Haiti. Pulling Casey aside, she told him she couldn't move to Haiti with him without them being engaged. Thinking , of course, that would be enough for him to be ok with her staying in New York.

As did most of her plans, it ended up back firing when Casey announced that he never thought that when he'd met Mindy she'd be his future wife. With that declaration he began to attempt to propose . Which Mindy promptly stopped by announcing she didn't want to marry him, and she didn't want go to Haiti with him either.

Mindy went on further to say, she loved being independent and that there was no way she could spend a year in a tent with someone, even if that someone was Casey. It just wouldn't be enough. Casey had stormed out of there ,effectively ending their relationship .

Just when she was about to leave the party herself, her pager, as well as Danny's and Jeremy's went off , and there was no time to waste. She had to forget about everything that had just happened with Casey and slip into Doctor mode, she had triplets to help deliver.

After all three babies were delivered , Mindy had an epiphany, when she asked some questions of the new mother. In that moment she knew what she had to do. Danny had his own epiphany a thoughtful look on his face as he watched her leave.

Mindy then made her way to Casey's apartment building, running the whole way. Not taking no for an answer , as she begged him to forgive her and take her with him to Haiti. Casey still wouldn't budge and his neighbors , an angry women who threw clothes hangers at her, and a pervy man, were not making the situation any easier. When she revealed her new pixie cut short hairdo, the deal was sealed. She'd be going to Haiti with Casey after all.

Later in the doctors lounge , she and Danny settled into their usual comfortableness chilling on the couch, but this time, there was something a little different about the air in the room.

"Hey." Mindy said walking into the lounge.

"Hey." Danny said back not looking up from his newspaper.

"I'm gonna go..Oh My God what did you do to your hair!" Danny said looking away from his paper and seeing Mindy's short haircut.

"I cut it." Mindy said a smile on her face.

"Oh I hate it so much." Danny said.

"That is so rude , its short now, you can't just say you hate it." Mindy said as she took a seat next to him on the doctors lounge couch.

"Well only three women can pull off a short hair like that, Audrey Hepburn, Hallie Berry and Ellen DeGeneres, guys are not going to go for this, I'm telling you they're not going to deal with it. " Danny said going off on one of his trademark rants.

"Alright, well, its a good thing you're not my boyfriend" Mindy said .

"yeah, its a good thing." Danny said, though a part him knew that was a lie .

"I like it." Mindy said running her hand over the hair on the back of her head.

"It's..it might grow on me, we both have the same hair cut now." Danny said with a smirk, which made Mindy giggle, smile at him and nervously push her glasses closer to her eyes. There was a brief silence before Danny spoke again.

"I told Christina I want to slow things down so... " Danny said in a serious tone, eyes looking down as he spoke.

"You think that's...you've got a little something..." Danny began lifting his head and looking directly at Mindy, then stopping mid sentence as he reached to grab her glasses gently off of her face, cleaning them then moving closer to her ,returning them to her face just as gently his hands slightly cupping her head.

"There..." He said when the glasses were securely on her face.

" There was just a little smutz." Danny said gazing at her with an expression Mindy had never seen before, and surprisingly she found herself looking back at him with the same intensity. They were so close and there was something in Danny's eyes.

They both seem to make subtle movements toward each other, his eyes quickly glanced down to her lips then back to her eyes, her eyes did the same. She was this close to getting lost in the moment when she remembered something that made her snap out of it.

"Casey and I got back together ." Mindy said, and the look on Danny's face went from adoration to disbelief,he moved slightly away from her taking a moment to think before speaking.

"You did..." He said his voice slightly breaking .

"Yeah, so I'm gonna go to Haiti." Mindy said nodding her head.

Danny took a few seconds before speaking, he seemed to be contemplating how to respond to what Mindy had said. Snapping out of his temporary grief, he quickly started to pull his barriers back up.

"Good for you."

Mindy just continued to nod, trying not to think about the moment of intensity that had just occurred between her and Danny. Her mind couldn't go there, she shouldn't be thinking that if she wasn't with Casey ,and he wasn't with Christina, that they would have kissed. She would have kissed Danny. No, she had to stop those thoughts immediately . She was moving to Haiti with a guy she almost loved and that was that, end of story. Or so she thought, but we'll get to that later.

Danny, completely moved away, turning to sit away from her, his back resting on the couch, retrieving his newspaper while Mindy reached for the remote control . Both trying to forget what had had almost transpired, neither realizing that this was just the beginning.


	5. Returns and Revelations

Mindy had been adjusting to living in Haiti with Casey. They had their daily routines, every morning they'd ride to work together. He would go off to the local church, while she would tend to those who lived in the tent city ,created after the disastrous earthquake that had rocked the small Caribbean island. She also worked out of a hospital she'd helped build ,as well as volunteering in one that was already established ,L'Hôpital Trinité, which was located in Port au Prince, the capital of Haiti.

The whole experience made her feel really good, she was making a huge difference helping the people there. It wasn't all work, they were also able to enjoy the island, the delicious food, the fresh fruit, air, and the beaches. Despite that, she still welcomed the care packages her friends and former co-workers sent of her favorite sugary and salty snacks.

Internet access was limited, so she wrote letters to her friends and family. With everyone else it was about once every week or two, but to Danny, she wrote him every week and with the influx of letters from him, it seemed he was doing the same.

Four months had passed and Mindy found herself sitting in a tree with Casey, watching the sun rise. It was early, too early, but she'd found herself awakened by Casey and reluctantly led to this spot to watch the Haitian sunrise.

Casey proceeded to start a speech. He briefly talked about how he had seen their relationship in the beginning, how he saw it now, before pulling out an opened little black box with a diamond ring inside . Mindy realizing what was happening started to freak out, it was not what she imagined, she wanted to be able to capture the moment of her engagement via social media.

Casey quickly regained her attention, finishing his proposal. He asked, she said yes, and after putting the ring on her finger and starting to kiss,they both fell out of the tree. They picked themselves up and headed to their little home. Where they then proceeded to celebrate their engagement physically, an act that was postponed when Mindy began to have severe abdominal pain, before passing out.

New York

After Mindy had left, Danny had reconsidered the speed of his relationship with Christina. They had ended up buying a house in Jersey, but things weren't exactly blissful. He cared about her, but he was subconsciously, and slowly, pushing her away. Their current issues were in the bedroom, specifically the lack of activity on Danny's part.

Christina wanted them to see someone, and Mindy's replacement, a Doctor Paul Leotard, who was not only a OB/GYN but a sex therapist ,had been her choice. It was awkward and humiliating for Danny,but he could hardly say no, not with Christina's insistence. He really was trying, albeit a little half assed, to make it work between him and his ex-wife.

" Hello? Hello?" Danny said walking around the office not seeing anyone around, that's when he bumped into Tamara.

"Hey Tamara, where is everybody, did they go to that ethnic street fair ,cause ,I told them not to go."

"No they all went to visit that Indian doctor who used to work here, shes real sick. What's her name again? I wanna say glob." Tamara said.

"Mindy?" Danny said not wanting to believe it.

'I really think its Glob" Tamara said in all seriousness.

"Shes back? Shes sick.." Danny said, flooded with a myriad of thoughts and emotions.

"I don't know." Tamara said then walked away.

Danny looked around for a second, still in shock ,before snapping out of his daze and making his way to the elevator. Once arriving at the hospital he quickly made his way to her hospital room. Mindy was laying in a hospital bed, she looked like she was sleeping or maybe unconscious. Danny puts his messenger bag down and grabbed her by the arms and shoulders.

"Alright, alright what'd you do, what'd you do get drunk and sass a voodoo princess, try to get your groove back with some street kid! What'd you do, what happened?!" Danny said again struggling with his mix of emotions , anger at her for being hurt, the most apparent. Morgan, tried to pull him away from her, while Mindy was confused by what was going on.

"No, no, no, shes fine." Morgan said trying to calm Danny down.

"I just had some gallstones removed. I'm fine." Mindy said calmly. Danny sighed and smiled in relief, she was alright. Mindy was back in New York, in the hospital, but she was alright.

Mindy smiled back, grabbing his arm affectionately. Danny now worry free and relaxed proceeded to ask Mindy about Haiti. She showed him photo's on her phone , and he couldn't seem to stop smiling. It was the happiest he'd felt in months,it was just like old times as they slipped right back into a light banter.

The moment was interrupted when Casey entered the room carrying a grocery bag. Danny quickly got off the bed and stood. He felt slightly guilty about his little moment with Mindy, as he remembered he was living with his ex-wife and Casey was still very much a factor in Mindy's life. How much of factor, he would soon find out.

" Did you tell them the good news?" Casey asked after showing her the contents of the bag.

" I did not. Guys I lost three pounds of water weight from diarrhea." Mindy said singing out the last word, pride on her face over the lost weight.

"Mindy the other news." Casey said half whispering the words , while gesturing to his ring finger.

Mindy didn't even really think about it at first. She realized that she was kind of hiding the ring. Seeing Danny's face after four long months and slipping so easily back into the banter that was the norm for their friendship, had made her temporarily forget about her engagement to Casey.

Though Morgan was the first person she'd woken up and seen, a part of her wished it had been Danny. Although she was excited to see Morgan and the other members of the staff and even Jeremy. Her heart literally fluttered when Danny burst in. She didn't realize she'd been waiting for him till she felt such relief and excitement at seeing his face turn from full on worry for her, to a seldom seen smile. She was surprised by the joy she felt from being reunited with the grumpy doctor that had somehow gained a tier in her levels of 'best friend' .

"Oh My God, Casey proposed to me!" Mindy said, causing Morgan to sort of squeal covering his mouth with both of his hands, as he barely contained his excitement.

"Isn't that great!" Mindy said in her chipper voice.

Danny though, just smiled awkwardly, and that soon disappeared as he really processed what Mindy had said. Casey had proposed, Mindy was going to marry Casey. He shrugged off his feelings , trying not to let his disappointment show.

Later that night sitting in bed with Christina, despite news of Mindy's engagement , Danny was still all around happy that Mindy was back in New York. However briefly her return turned out to be, he planned on relishing the few moments they might possible share. So when Christina wanted to have sex, thoughts of Mindy were on his mind. Even as Christina tried to seduce him, he made up excuses, including no longer being in the mood due to being too full of their chicken pot pie dinner, before escaping out of their bedroom and into the multipurpose room to send emails.

Danny sighed pulling his hands down across his face before settling in front of his laptop, just in case Christina popped out of their bedroom. He did a Google search, pulling up the websites that had served his frustration over the last month or so, since sex with Christina had slowed to a stop.

While Danny was having his avoidance with Christina. Casey and Mindy discussed their future wedding and what it would entail. The meeting of their extended families, where the wedding would take place. Finally they decided to do a simple ceremony before they both returned to Haiti, as it would be the most cost effective.

The next morning Mindy went into the practices office to visit. Danny immediately perked up as he saw her walk up. After Mindy walked over to stand next to Danny, the practices newest doctor walked in taking everyone's attention, especially Mindy's since he called her by name.

"You must be Mindy Lahiri." Paul said walking in like he owned the place and every woman in it.

"Whoa, who is that?" Mindy said clearly impressed by the male specimen walking towards her.

"Cool your jets, you're engaged." Danny said clearly annoyed.

"A person is walking into the room, I'm just looking at him." Mindy said a matter of factly. Before being pulled back into watching the doctor walk toward her, a dreamy look on her face.

"Stop that!" Danny said nudging her.

He didn't like the way Mindy was looking at Paul. It wasn't as much about the fact that Mindy was indeed engaged. It was more of that she'd never looked at him that way. Yeah he liked to tease her about her checking out his 'hot bod',but when he was around Paul, it made him slightly self conscious and a little intimidated by Paul's model physique. Especially since the man had indeed been a model before becoming a doctor.

Paul and Mindy made their acquaintances. Mindy was even beginning to be impressed by the handsome doctor, but her opinion of him soon changed. She quickly realized that the model doctor had replaced her . He was in charge of all her patients, and even stole her nickname, Dr.L. And she definitely didn't appreciate the suggestions for a new nickname for her, now that her old one had been taking by 'the other Dr. L'.

" So you're really getting married this weekend?" Danny asked later when it was just him and Mindy in his office.

"Yeah, its easy, its chill, its great." Mindy said like it was no big deal.

"Chill and ,ok Tony Hawk. Look I don't think its a good idea for you, but you know.." Danny said knowing he couldn't alright tell her, it would be a mistake to get married so suddenly.

" Just please be supportive ok ,and be a good friend." Mindy said . She was marrying Casey,yes it was sudden, but she'd already made her decision.

Before Danny could respond, Christina burst in and started yelling at him, bringing up his laptop and pornography. When Danny took too long to answer her question of whether or not he really wanted to be with her, she snapped his laptop in two, and stalked off. Effectively ending their relationship.

Danny didn't know how to feel. He knew his heart hadn't really been in it, but that probably had to do with his hope for Mindy's return. Things had changed now that Mindy was engaged and marrying Casey the upcoming weekend. It made him realize that hope was lost, and maybe he should try to make it work with Christina. They had a house now, and Danny realized he didn't want to be alone, he would have to win Christina back, but how?

"Dr. C you need to do what Kobe did when he messed up, get that girl a ten pound ring." Tamara offered in response to him pacing around the break room.

"Great Idea, I need to propose to her, so she knows I'm all in,great."

" Oh God a double doctor wedding, this is every medical secretary's dream." Betsy said excited.

"Ok, good, I'm gonna go take care of this." Danny said, then started to walk away.

" I'm sorry , am I the only person here who thinks this is a really bad idea." Mindy said stepping in his way.

"Ok look , lets not do this , cause nobody asked you." Danny said rudely.

" I mean I'm just saying, ok. This is the women that came in and destroyed your computer. Embarrassed you in front of all your coworkers ,and your solution is to spend the rest of your life with her."

" I'm not gonna take advice from a women who cant even hold on to her nonessential organs , ok. Just focus on your own wedding ."

Danny then walked,away. A part of him knew that what Mindy was saying was right, but who was she to talk, when she was doing something equally impulsive.

Mindy stood in her bathroom, starring into her mirror, and speaking a inner monolog out loud as per usual, when Casey surprised her, leaving her wedding dress riddled with urine. Not to mention the possible bad luck of her husband to be seeing her in her wedding dress , right before the ceremony actually started.

Danny arrived shortly after,looking for Mindy in one of her many closets. He found her out on the fire escape a bed sheet wrapped around her as she sat on the floor.

"Are you wearing a bed sheet?" Danny asked as he climbed through the window and onto the fire escape.

"Hey ,what are you doing here? Aren't you supposed to be purposing to Christina in a gondola in the middle of the guada canal " Mindy asked surprised to see him.

"That's offensive... I was gonna do it..but, I didn't. I love her, but when it down comes to it, just being with her every day , yeah, I just wasn't happy.

" I think you made the right decision."

" Yeah?"

" Yeah. Can I confess something?

"Sure."

"I don't want to go back to Haiti. I mean I like the work that I was doing there, but, I , I just miss being here

"I knew you were unhappy. "

"Really?

" Yeah."

"How?"

"Well you wrote me like every week." Danny said with a smirk.

"More like you wrote me every week"

"I have a stack of letters from you this high ,what are you talking about." Danny said raising his arms wide and tall.

"You kept them all , you are such a stalker." Mindy said in her playful tone.

" I like the way you write letters, you don't ramble on like you do when you talk." Danny said enjoying their little banter.

" You know, I really thought that I changed , but I didn't, I just got good at pretending to like things that I don't like."

"Well as long as you're not pretending to like the guy you're about to marry?" Danny said , slightly hopeful her answer would be yes.

" I'm not." Mindy said sincerely,not missing a beat. Casey really was a good guy, and even with Danny now single, he probably would never see her as more than a friend. They had a great friendship, one she didn't want to take the chance of ever losing, and she was pretty sure she loved Casey.

"Then go get married, what are doing out here. "Danny said, though he was a little sad at the thought of Mindy getting married, he only ever wanted her to be happy and it seemed Casey made her happy. So he would do as she asked earlier, he would be a supportive friend.

"Yeah, there's actually pee all over my wedding dress."

" I'm gonna blow right past that."

" I surprised Casey, I surprised him and he peed on it." Mindy explained anyway.

"You know what I always thought you looked nice in..."

And that's how Mindy found herself walking down the aisle, or rather, through her living room, in her blue surgical scrubs. Casey though, put a stop to the wedding. This quickly put together wedding wasn't what he wanted. It wasn't the kind of wedding he thought Mindy deserved. So in the end her and Casey decided the best thing to do was for Casey to go back to Haiti, and for Mindy to stay in New York to work and save money for their future wedding, a wedding done right, not right in her living room.


	6. Breakups, Dates And Double Dates

A couple of months passed and Casey returned to New York. His church welcomed him back with open arms, but he had a surprise announcement. He was giving up his calling as a minister, to pursue his new calling of being a DJ. This announcement came as a shock to Mindy, but as a good fiancee she supported it. Six weeks passed and Casey didn't seem to be going anywhere with his new calling. Mindy's patience was wearing thin, and after going to a musical festival and some wise words from Danny, she was back on board with supporting Casey's new dream. That is until he up and changed callings yet again, that ,Mindy could not support.

Mindy refused to follow Casey from one thing to another. She'd already done it once, by moving to Haiti with him. She would not be doing it again, and again, till Casey found his true calling, whatever it would be. Thus ended her engagement to Pastor Casey. It took her awhile, but with some help from Morgan, Mindy found her path to healing from her break up and was ready to move on.

A few Weeks Later

" Hey can I bring a plus one to your wiener night thing? I'm thinking of inviting that snobby guy Jason to come to it."

" No, you're not doing that ,and its not called wiener night,ok. If anything it should be called injustice night."

"I think that 'wiener night' is really taking off as a nickname."

"Why are you seeing that guy again , wasn't he really insulting to you?" Danny said referring to Mindy's date with a pretentious cultural writer , named Jason.

" Yes he was Danny, but it bothers me that he thinks hes so much better than me, and hes not. I just want to prove it to him."

" Oh, good. I'm glad this can all be worked out over photos of my genitals!"

" I'm sorry. Were you forced to take those photos against your will? Or did you take them as like sexy time with your wife?" Mindy said sarcastically , not having any pity for him.

"Ok.

" Ok, that's what I thought." Mindy said before exiting his office.

Later as Mindy and Danny made their way to Christina's art show opening, Danny started to regret showing up. He couldn't believe that everyone would be seeing his body, it would be full frontal nudity, and he was freaking out. Mindy, in her way, tried to make him lighten up about it.

" Come on, come on you're just, you're being very dramatic."

" I'm dramatic, you tried to shut down the M&M store , because you thought the brown lady M&M stole your look!"

"She Is stealing my look!"

" Look, I can't do this!" Danny said then tried to walk away in the opposite direction of the gallery.

" Hey, hey, hey, hey! Come on, you're doing this . The best thing you can do right now is to go in there , look Christina in the eye, and show her that this does not bother you."

" Yeah..."

" Yeah, and it shouldn't bother you. We're doctors, we can handle nudity." Mindy said, but upon entering the gallery and seeing the photographs she immediately changed her mind.

" Oh my god this is horrible , we shouldn't have come."

" Ok, stop, you said we're adults, we can handle it."

"I can see every hair follicle!"

" Aw man this is a, yeah this is a nightmare."

The show was not going good for Danny, and when Christina's little devil spotlight begin, Mindy knew she had to do something to defend him. And also take those artsy cultural people, namely Jason, Brendan Deslaurier and Jeremy, down a peg.

" Ok enough , that's enough this is dumb, this is not art. Everything on these walls I could have done that with my phone. I'm taking a picture of my boobs I guess I'm an artist now too. Ok I'm gonna delete that... i instagramed it, damn it, no don't look!" Mindy said as she accidentally sent out a photo of her breast, while trying to make a point.

" Yes, it would be extremely challenging to live with this man, but hes a good guy, and I'm a good guy."

" And I'm a good guy." Morgan , then Peter chimed in.

" No you're not, you're both ok, fine men. I'm not as artsy, or well read as I wish I was, but you know when I was very well read? When i was studying in medical school to become A Doctor. Yeah, bet you didn't think with this bod ,that I had a brain too. And pretty good boobs. And when I'm not delivering babies, sure I like to watch real housewives ,or listen to Katy perry ." Mindy said, and with those last words, the crowd started to boo.

" Oh come on, don't pretend you don't like Katy Perry!"Mindy continued to defend herself, while the crowd continued to boo. This made a clearly drunk Danny join her and start to defend her.

"Whoa,whoa, why are you booing her...because she doesn't quench your thirst for pornography!"

" I get it, hold this." Danny said before handing Mindy his beer, then taking off and throwing his jacket down on the ground.

"You know what, I'm sick of this! You came here tonight for this, this what you want, cause I'll give it to you!" Danny said, then started to unbuckle and unzip his pants, before pulling it down, while Mindy tried to stop him. That's when the cops came in.

Cliff, a lawyer Mindy had tried to sue when she was broken up about Casey. And that Morgan had used in a suit against Mindy, did his lawyer thing and handled things with the cops, he even waived his lawyer fee for his time helping out Danny.

Later, Danny was sitting on the sidewalk outside of the gallery a cigarette in hand , when Mindy walked up and joined him.

" Hey Danny, I didn't recognize you with all your clothes on." Mindy said with a smirk before taking a seat next to him on the sidewalk

" Ok, that's very insensitive, given my circumstances right now."

" Can I have a puff?"

"Yeah."

"That's stupid you shouldn't smoke." Mindy said throwing the cigarette on the ground.

"Hey! I'm a joke." Danny said running his hands down his face."

" You're not a joke Danny, you have to be funny to be a joke." Mindy said trying to lighten the mood.

" I should move someplace where there's no art, like Iran, or Utah."

" Ok, that's enough, everyone came here tonight to see photos of your hot body and they called it art . You know what people are saying about my boobs online, they're calling them handsome."

"They did?"

"Don't..."

" You think my body's hot?"

"You know that it is..."

" The guys at the gym , you know ,they make comments, but they're flirts."

" Great."

" I gotta tell you, I really like that Cliff guy."

" Hes cool, I mean he has a girlfriend, but, I couldn't help but wonder."

"I mean, I like for him to be my friend!"

"Ok, god!"

That's when an attractive woman walked up interrupting their conversation, and taking an interest in Danny based off his photos. Danny was reluctant to leave Mindy and go off with the woman, but she looked like she was already undressing him with her eyes.

"Ok, go, just go, you obviously want to, just go." Mindy said. Just because her night was a bust, didn't mean Danny's should be too.

"Ok, I'm gonna go."

"Go!"

"Alright." Danny said after giving her a quick kiss on the cheek . He then walked off with the woman.

Mindy felt her cheek warm, at the lingering sensation of Danny's lips pressed against her cheek. She shook off the strange fluttery feeling ,mixed with a hint of jealousy, over seeing someone else walk off with Danny. She then made her way home stopping to get a corn dog on the way there.

Jason the artsy guy she was trying to impress that day was waiting for her outside her apartment building. He apologized for being pretentious and presumptuous on their first date and at the gallery opening.

After a small pop cultural reference and musical romantic gesture , she and Jason became a couple. That relationship like so many of her others didn't last long. What was different about this breakup though was Jason's subtle reasoning behind why him and Mindy weren't going to work.

Mindy had been trying to get Peter, the newest doctor at Schulman & associates to like her, and had somehow found herself at his amateur MMA fight. While dealing with that ,she ended up flaking on her dinner with Jason. After Peter's devastating loss , Jason found her at the hospital.

" What a wonderful surprise." Mindy said hugging Jason, he pulled away quickly making the hug awkward.

"Oh my God, oh my God ,I was supposed to meet you at my apartment !" Mindy said suddenly remembering, her broken plans.

"Mindy look, I think you're great." Jason Began.

"And I think you're great ,and that can just be the end of the conversation, you don't need to continue anything." Mindy said knowing what might be coming next.

" No, this is a, I think you're great, but..."

"I am so sorry I forgot about our plans."

" Twice..." Jason reminded her

"It's just that , it was important that I go for work. Haven't you ever had to do something because of work?"

"Yeah, sure. I just went to my bosses kid's, middle school graduation, but that doesn't mean I've memorized her favorite sushi order. I'm sorry Mindy, I'm gonna ...goodbye."

Jason gave her another awkward hug then walked away. Mindy didn't know what to think, to be honest she wasn't that upset about the breakup. She was more concerned with thinking about what Jason had implied.

So she knew Danny's favorite sushi order, they were friends. Proof of which earlier, was his acceptance of her friendship cake. She couldn't help but wonder, if it was more than that. First Josh had brought it up, now Jason. Josh had out right said he knew there was something between her and Danny. While Jason had hinted at it. Was there something she wasn't seeing, or rather something she didn't want to see.

At Mindy's need to prove to Danny that she wasn't picky when it came to the guys she dated, and his need to prove the same , they found themselves on yet another slightly disastrous double date. This time their dates were a gorgeous forty something tattooed and nonsensical professional skateboarder for Mindy named Graham , and a plain Jane, total snooze fest named Mary for Danny. At the end of the night, just like with their first unsuccessful double date , they found themselves without their dates, eating food and having light banter.

"Hi, what are you doing here?" Mindy said when Danny approached her at the sushi place they had dined and dashed at earlier in the evening.

" I came back to pay."

"Really, Mary didn't run of internet videos to partially remember?"

"I fell asleep, while she was talking."

"Oh my God."

"Yeah, and I didn't even wake up when she started kissing me."

"What!"

"Look..."

"How often is that happening to you..."

"Can we just admit that we were both dumb, that we, we were both dating someone to prove a point. "

" Ok. It began as me trying to prove a point."

"OK." Danny said as he started to eat from her tray of food.

" But it evolved into a very deep need for me to have sex with him." Mindy continued.

"Ok, that's enough, I don't want to hear that."

"And I hope that need goes away."

" I don't get the tattoo thing , he looked like the wall of a bar bathroom."

"I thought it was super hot . In fact I was thinking of getting a tattoo on my wrist that says breathe."

"Breathe is that something you forget to do, you should get 'walk' on your feet. You should think about getting 'idiot' on your forehead. "

"You know what if you're gonna diss me, don't eat all of my desert."

Mindy found it funny, that again, her after 'date" with Danny, had gone way better than her actual date. She had brought up the tattoo thing knowing it would annoy Danny, and though she would never admit it to him, she loved to hear him rant.

She liked it just as much as their back in forth banter, especially when Danny would try his hand at a joke. The smirk that would appear on his face when Mindy's reaction indicted the joke was clever, was kinda adorable.


	7. Playing House And One Realization

Up next came the moment Danny realized he could no longer deny his un-lamp like feelings for Mindy to himself any longer. A realization that would lead him on a straight path to everything changing for him and Mindy.

Mindy had, had a long busy work week, and would be heading to the hospital for a C-section. She bumped into Morgan, Cliff, and Cliff's model date in the elevator. Without realizing it she'd made a fool of herself, going on about allergy hives on her chest. That, and her overall blah appearance, caused Morgan to chastise her. She later found herself back at the hospital in search of her purse and phone. Running up to the cleaning lady she found out the guy in charge of the lost and and found was already gone. Luckily she bumped into Danny.

"Why don't you stay at a hotel, you like dropping towels on the floor . You tweeted that yesterday ." Danny said with smug smile.

"I can't pay, because I don't have my wallet. You know what?"

"Yeah." Danny said looking up from a chart.

" You live around here, I should just spend the night at your place."

"No, no, no, no, call one of your friends ."

"The only number I've memorized is my Thai place. They're not gonna let me spend the night . Which is so unfair, because I know they have mattresses back there. Please Danny."

"No."

In the end Danny gave in, like he always did when it came to Mindy. They found themselves walking to Danny's place, he listed a set of rules, while Mindy barely listened, something else, or rather someone else on her mind. She couldn't help but notice all the happy elderly couple, a younger couple with a baby. It reminded her of the fact that she was a thirty something , still single, unmarried and childless.

"You can't get on my computer because the last time you changed my WiFi network name to' leave Miley alone' ,and I don't know how to change it back . Rule number 2 coaster, coasters, coasters. I don't want to see your drinks just laying about, ok. Hey whats wrong with you?" Danny said stopping his rant, when he noticed how quiet Mindy was being. Usually at this point in one of his rants, she would have already had several comebacks and possibly a mini rant of her own.

"What!"

"You're all dreamy."

"You know I was just thinking about how when my mom was my age she was already married and I was like five years old ."

"Don't worry , she was probably just a child bride, its all messed up over there."

"Hey, hey, that's very offensive."

"Sorry, sorry." Danny said , he hadn't meant for it to be offensive, he was just trying to cheer her up , not upset her more. He couldn't stand seeing her upset.

"Danny, what am I going to do? If I had a boyfriend or a husband, he would have picked me up tonight and I wouldn't be in this situation . I'm never gonna find anyone. I just hope my parents don't mind that our blood line is gonna die with me . Family is so important to us."

"What about your brother Rishi?"

"Yes, yeah, yeah, yeah, I forgot about him...I forgot about him."

"Yeah. You did."

"It's so much better being single. No commitment , no long hair in the drain. No finding my toothbrush wet, because someone used it and thought I wouldn't notice." Danny said as they crossed the street, taking the time to touch Mindy's back as they crossed while not missing a beat on his rant.

"But Danny, if you rinse a toothbrush after you use it, its like no one used it."

"What about you, you're always crushing on some cheese ball." Danny said looking down as he asked so to seem nonchalant.

"There is someone , but..."

"But, what, who's the next victim?"

" I feel a little weird telling you actually. Cause we work in the same place ,and hes out of my league, he'd never be interested in me . Morgan thinks we would be good together, but whenever we see each other, we fight and argue. Ah, it doesn't matter , lets just go to your place, I'm cold Danny." Mindy said then picked up her pace.

"Yeah...oh boy." Danny said. He quickly replayed Mindy's words. She had to be talking about him right? They worked together and they fought all the time. They were two of Morgans favorite people, so it would make sense that he'd want them to be together. Mindy had , had no qualms about telling him about her previous love interest, why would she start now. Unless she was testing the waters. He didn't know why, but the thought started to make him panic.

"Danny you smell good, is it cologne ." Mindy said sniffing him as she stood really close to him, while he sorted his mail.

" What! No, no, no, no, no, no, I don't smell good, its deodorant, whatever, leave me alone." Danny said, then quickly returned to his mail. A task that was interrupted by a female voice calling his name.

"Danny?"

"Heyy. Oh my God its my crazy neighbor , I hooked up with her , shes obsessed with me. Do me a favor , hold my hand, ok." Danny said turning around quickly and facing the women, before turning back around and whispering to Mindy.

"You want me to pretend to be your girlfriend?" Mindy said enthusiastically.

"NO, not, yeah, no , yeah ,I mean just for a second." Danny said stumbling over his words.

"Ok." Mindy said as he turned them so that they were facing the woman, him holding Mindy's hand.

"Hey!."

"Hi." Mindy and Danny both said at the same time, a fake smile plastered on Danny's face.

"I feel like you've been avoiding me. Did you lose your phone, your computer, your ability to hear your doorbell?" The woman asked, and at each question Danny shook his head no.

"No, he found true love with his fiancee,which is me ." Mindy said, resting her head against Danny's shoulder. While Danny gave the woman another slightly nervous fake smile.

"So you're engaged, how long have you guys been together, then?" They woman asked clearly surprised.

'Short version we met in St. Barths . We met through mutual friends, the resorts communal dinning table. First night, we wanted to kill each other. Second night I told the maitre d' to seat me anywhere, except next to this jerk. Call it fate, but that night we found love, and we made love."

"Wow." The woman said.

"And that's where we came up with this guy. Yeah I'm with child, its a boy. It's too early to tell people but we're just so excited." Mindy said placing Danny's hand on her upper abdomen as she said the part about being pregnant.

"I'm so happy for you guys! It's such a romantic story , but where's your ring? "

"It was a blood diamond and we had to give it back to Africa."

"We gave it back, what are you gonna do." Danny chimed in.

"So..." Both he and Mindy said at the same time looking at each other than back at the neighbor.

"Lets go, we're gonna head up, upstairs, we'll see you later." Danny said starting to walk away, Mindy following behind him.

"Gotta go get started on baby number two , if you know what I mean."

"I do...I'm sorry I never got your name?" The neighbor asked after nervously laughing.

"It's Chloe, Chloe Silverado." Mindy said before walking away.

Later inside Danny's apartment, the two were settled on Danny's couch, Mindy laying on the couch reading a random book about how things work. While Danny read his own book, he was seated with his legs stretched out and resting on an ottoman.

"I can't believe the only snack you had is sugar cubes. Danny..Danny, do you know how the windmill works. It's unbelievable, its so messed up." Mindy said poking Danny in the neck and shoulders ,with her feet.

"Ok, alright. Look, I think it'd be better if you read your book in here, and I'll go into the other room with my Ludlow ." Danny said inching away from her. He didn't know what was wrong with him. Sure he'd admit he was attracted to Mindy and he cared about her, but for some reason the thought of her setting her sights on him scared the crap out of him. Plus he wasn't entirely sure he was ready to finally confront the fact that since she'd returned from Haiti, they'd gotten closer and closer.

"Actually Danny, can we just go to bed now please." Mindy said continuing to touch him with her feet.

"Yeah. Different beds, sure. I'm gonna go grab you a pillow for the couch." Danny said practically jumping even further from her, before calming himself. He didn't want to think about Mindy and him being in the same bed together , lest his body betray him. If she kept touching him, it probably would.

"That's interesting because when my cousin comes to visit me. I give her my bed , and then like I sleep on the couch."

"Great so you have experience sleeping on couches." Danny said.

Danny had left Mindy on the couch, and was laying on his bed in his boxers watching the nature channel when Mindy peeked her head in, she had a baseball mitt in her hand and was wearing his Columbia hoodie.

"Danny..."

"Hey, what are you, what are you doing in here, come on." Danny said, quickly grabbing a sheet to cover himself.

"Are you watching the nature channel? I love this, it makes me so happy I don't live in those places."

"Yeah. No, don't, I like the side smooth...great" Danny said as Mindy fully entered the room jumped onto his bed and was now sitting up back against the headboard on the unoccupied side of the bed.

"Cozy." Mindy said getting comfortable.

The program playing on the TV was about frogs, and as the narrator started to describe the sexual aspect, Danny could feel his palms sweat, and his irrational fear as he started to feel uncomfortable. It was bad enough when they were on the couch, now she was sitting right beside him in his bed, he didn't know how much more he could take.

"Oh boy.." Danny said, and Mindy giggled, and playful nudged Danny's in his side with her elbow.

"Ok, don't , no stop. Of all the things frogs do . All the very interesting things they do, you're gonna show me this, no." Danny side quickly changing the channel.

"OK, here we go, creature feature ." Danny said relaxing. A scary movie shouldn't bring up anything sexual.

"This looks...I really don't like scary movies. Oh god don't go in there..I can't stop talking when I'm scared. Ahhh, Danny, Danny, I'm so scared, I'm so scared! Why'd you make me watch that!" Mindy said arm clinging around Danny's, her face buried in his shoulder. She was so close and he could practically inhale the scent of her conditioner, it smelled so sweet. He had to get her off of him before his body reacted to her proximity and scent, he didn't want her to think he was a perv.

"Alright, ok, let go, let go. Ok, that's enough, that's enough . Get your legs off me now, this has gone far enough. We need to talk." Danny said grabbing the roommate turning off the TV and facing her a serious expression on his face. He wasn't sure exactly what he was gonna say, but before he could start, Mindy spoke first.

"I think you're right , I admit it, I farted, I did it because I was scared and it was wrong and we should talk about it." Mindy said in serious tone. which was not what Danny was expecting. He thought she was gonna admit that it was indeed him she was referring to earlier, that she had been testing the waters to see if Danny felt the same.

"No, not about that." Danny said frustrated.

"Ok, I spilled red wine on your sofa cushion, and yes I turned it over, and then I got chocolate syrup on that ,and I wrapped it up in blankets and I thought you'd just blame it on your maid."

"Ok, stop admitting things to me." Danny said getting increasingly frustrated.

"I farted again..."

"Stop, and stop farting , ok. We need to talk about this, you and me, ok."

"Yeah, ok."

"No, not here, not in my bed, out there."

"I was really comfortable lying on your bed, I don't understand why we have to come out here." Mindy said as Danny ushered here out of his bedroom.

"Ok, that's inappropriate , alright." Danny said in response.

" But, why?" Mindy asked. But before Danny could answer the they both were shocked to see Danny's crazy neighbor sitting in his living room on the couch a wine bottle in hand.

"So Chloe...How much do you know about your fiancee?"

"So Danny probably told you I was crazy,right?" Danny's neighbor said, clearly drunk, bottle still in her hand.

"I would never say that." Danny said

"Yes, he did." Mindy said speaking at the same time as Danny.

"Look, I did the math, Danny had sex with me while you were pregnant."

"What!" Mindy said.

"A lot."

"Daniel is this true?" Mindy said facing Danny.

"It is possible, could be possible." Danny half whispered.

"Bastard!" Mindy said after slapping him hard across the face causing him to yell out in pain.

"That was a lot harder then it needed to be." Danny said clutching his face like a wounded animal.

"I feel like I must hear every detail, although it will be painful to hear it." Mindy said, making her voice shake like she was fighting the urge to cry, but really she was fighting the urge to laugh.

"So Danny was kind of a sex freak, huh?" Mindy said as she sat on the couch with Danny's neighbor, whose name she now knew to be Amy.

" Yeah, and then there were times when he didn't even want to have sex. You know he just wanted to eat melted chocolate off my butt."

"OK, its getting late I think my fiancee has heard about as much as she can handle." Danny said, having had enough, it was embarrassing enough having Amy here. The fact that Amy and Mindy were talking about his sexual encounters with the former, like those female characters from that Sex in the Village show Mindy was always going on about, made it even worse.

"Amy, I want to thank you for your honesty , and while deeply saddened by this, I think I'm gonna stick with Danny. Like Hillary ,Puma, or Cilda, or briefly Maria Shriver. Right before she was like , why am I doing this, I'm the rich one."

"Ok, Amy I'm gonna need my key back now."

"She had your key?" Mindy said surprised

"Yeah." Danny admitted .

"Well yeah, we were spending most nights together ." Amy explained.

"So you were spending most nights together?" Mindy said.

"Yeah, and in the morning , he'd make pancakes."

"Pancakes!" Mindy said starting to get a little angry.

"Blueberry." Amy said.

"Ok, I'm sorry Amy. Do you mind waiting here for a second." Mindy said sensing there was more to the story then an obsession after a few hookups. Mindy then made Danny follow her to his bathroom, closing the door, before saying what she had to say.

"Hey buddy, guess what? There is a sociopath here and its not Amy , Danny its you."

"What!" Danny said.

"You do not make pancakes for someone who is just a hookup. I've been told that by like ten different guys."

"Ok, I'm Italian, I like to cook." Danny said going on the defensive and trying to walk away, but Mindy stopped him.

" Come back here. Admit to me that you are not this cool player who can just hook up with whomever.

"Fine . Yes, I guess I get a little lonely sometimes. You know if its a little drizzly out, or if I see photos of the first family doing that Easter egg hunt ."

"Aw Danny, do you get lonely sometimes." Mindy said a bit patronizingly .

"Yes, that's what I just said!

"Ok, you don't have to scream at me "

" OK ,can we go back out there and tell her to go please." Danny said , ready for this whole ordeal to be over with .

"Yes, but first you need to make this right . Come." Mindy said .

"Amy, Danny has something he would like to tell you." Mindy said. The three of them sat at Danny's dinning room table.

"How ya been?" Danny said, having no idea where to start.

"Come on, just , will you please." Mindy said hitting him.

"Fine. So, I definitely liked you, but I guess I kept it going on so long because...sigh...maybe I was a little lonely." Danny admitted.

"He was lonely." Mindy chipped in.

" Thank you for saying that Danny. " Amy said taking it pretty well.

"You welcome." Danny said.

"Actually, I realize that, she has a lot more to be angry about then I do." Amy said referring to Mindy.

"I do." Mindy said slapping Danny a second time.

" I'm so sorry angel." Danny said grinding his teeth, forcing himself to be calm after the slap.

"Apologize to our baby." Mindy said.

"I'm sorry baby." Danny said.

"Tell it to him." Mindy said grabbing Danny's hand and making him get closer so that he could talk to her stomach.

"I'm so sorry buddy."

"So we have a lot we need to work on, I can almost say that I'm happy you came by. It was painful for sure, but ultimately it was worth it. " Mindy standing up.

" It was very painful for sure...but it was good" Danny began speaking as Mindy spoke.

"So we're gonna call it a night ." Mindy said.

"Yeah, we're gonna call it a night and, and maybe we'll get a bite to eat sometime. You know, me you and Mindy, we'll just do our thing." Danny said.

"Who, who's Mindy?" Amy asked confused.

"Her." Danny said pointing to Mindy.

"Chloe, I'm Chloe, my name is Chloe, Danny. Mindy is someone he works with ." Mindy said trying to explain Danny's slip up.

"Yeah, Chloe." Danny said.

"He gets confused all the time." Mindy explained further.

"Yeah, Chloe, Chloe, Chloe , Mindy. " Danny said.

"What is going on here?" Amy asked starting to get suspicious .

"What, what!" Danny said.

"Nothing, nothing, we're just a couple in love with each other ." Mindy said

"Are you in a relationship together or not?" Amy said, at this point not knowing what to believe.

"Of course , yes." Danny said, rather unconvincingly

"Look, of course,this is what..." Mindy said wrapping her arms around Danny's waist ,as he wrapped both arms around her, pulling her close against him .

" Yes, Yeah." Danny said rubbing his hands up and down her back, pulling her even closer to him. Placing a kiss on her head as she leaned against him. He could smell her conditioner again, and something about the way she felt in his arms just felt right. He looked at her, and she looked just as beautiful in his hoodie and sweats, as she did when she wore one of her flashy outfits.

"Oh, yeah. Ok, this is real, Danny never looked at me like that. Plus you are clearly very pregnant, so. You're a very lucky woman Chloe Silverado." Amy said, before making her way out of Danny's apartment.

"I don't know if very pregnant, is how I would describe me..." Mindy said.

Danny though barely heard her after that. He was too caught up in his thoughts. Wondering how exactly had he been looking at Mindy. That's when it hit him, was Amy right? Was he in love with Mindy? Of course he had feelings for her, he cared about her, couldn't stand seeing her hurt, always wanted her to be happy. He never thought anyone she ever dated was good enough for her, he was miserable when she left for Haiti. Hell he was ready to kiss her not too long ago, he thought she was beautiful inside and out. Yup, he was a man in love, oh boy.

Danny ended up letting Mindy have the bed. After getting him out of that situation with Amy,albeit with an elaborate out of control lie, he owed her at least a good nights sleep on a comfy bed. After setting up some blankets for himself on the couch, he went into the bathroom to brush his teeth.

He couldn't help but smile after feeling the wetness of his tooth brush, flashing back to their conversation earlier about using another persons tooth brush. He thought about all the things he'd said earlier that he liked about being single and he realized dealing with all that stuff would be worth it if he were dating Mindy.

THE NEXT MORNING

"You know Danny, at this point if we pulled our money together we could buy Greece. I'd have to share Greece with you though..enh we'll figure it out " Mindy said her mouth half full of french toast as she read the paper. Danny stood at the stove making more french toast.

" You know that guy you were telling me about, the one you work with. I think you should know hes not out of your league. You're great." Danny said.

"That's very nice of you to say."

"I mean it ." Danny said placing a piece of french toast on her plate.

"Hey, I love that you said that." Mindy said grabbing his arm and smiling sweetly at him.

"And I'm gonna do it. When I get home, I'm gonna call Cliff and ask him out." Mindy said.

" Wait, what?" Danny said confused.

"Cliff Gilbert, your friend, the attorney . Wait, who'd you think I was talking about?"

"Cliff Gilbert, from, from down the hall, he's like fifty?"

"No, I think hes younger than you."

"Oh he is. His eyes are kinda , they're close together, aren't they?"

"His beautiful perfect blue eyes, I don't think so."

"Cliff Gilbert, how bout that." Danny said, bringing his attention back to the task at hand, making french toast, while also recovering from his disappointment.


	8. It's A Trap, Dancing And Working Out

Unbeknownst to Mindy, while she was having her sleepover soap opera drama with Danny, Morgan and Peter were using her phone to text Cliff. That resulted in Cliff hitting it off with Heather, Josh's ex, who'd recently moved into her building.

A few more random incidents occurred in the following weeks. including the practice being accused of racism and Peter going with her to Josh's wedding , which they ending up ruining. Mindy taking the blame after Peter slept with Josh's sex addict wife. Danny's brother also came into the town, and after arguing about their absent father wanting to be back in their lives, the two made up.

Before they knew it the Christmas season was once again upon them. After learning from Cliff, as they rode together on the subway , that he and Heather might be on the outs. Mindy devised a plan to steal him away, involving four steps and a office Christmas party. She was determined to make her plan work, but, what she didn't expect though was another defining moment with Danny.

"Exciting news everybody, this Friday, Schulman & associates will be having a Christmas party for the entire building ." Mindy announced.

"The entire building?" Danny said, he thought last years Christmas party was a disaster. Throw in a party for the entire building, god knows what would happen.

"Yeah. This building is full of rando's who we should get to know better. The notary republic on five , maybe those cool lawyers across the hallway." Mindy said trying to be subtle with the last part.

" Ok, is this a ploy so you can hang out with Cliff?"

"What, what are you saying are you having a stroke, what are you , what does that even mean?" Mindy said pretending not to notice the implication in Danny's pronunciation of the name 'Cliff"

" Oh ,and we can exchange our final secret santa gifts!" Betsy said excited

"Oh, that reminds me, I'm your secret santa." Danny said before handing her a small bundle made of white fibers.

"Medical gauze , come on."

"Yeah, I don't believe in spending money on stupid things."

"Really, so I assume you got that shirt for free ...whaat. And with that classic Danny dig, its settled. We're gonna have a party, you and I have to go get food." Mindy said to the group, then addresses Danny

"Ok." Danny said, not knowing what else to say.

Morgan then brought up that the party should be gluten free out of courtesy to Tamara who has Celiac's disease. This lead to Peter asking that the party also be alcohol free, because he realized his alcohol abuse was the root of all his problems.

"So are you making a ginger bread house this year?" Mindy asked Danny as they walked toward the elevator.

"Nah, I got a lot going on . Work , my bank just sent me a new credit card so...I have that to activate."

" You are such a horrible liar . I bet you already imported sugar stain glass from Germany."

"Oh please , German sugar glass ! Its notoriously brittle and cloudy . OK, I'll tell you this, I am making a structure and I'll give you a hint. Its the house of a man that's very important to this country." Danny said making sure no one else was around, before half whispering the last part.

"Justin Timberlake's childhood home in Nashville!" Mindy said excited.

"What?" Before Danny or Mindy can say anything else , the elevator opens to reveal Brendan Deslaurier and Maria Menounos.

" Hello Mindy, Danny." Brendan said greeting the two doctors.

"Hello." Mindy and Danny both said before walking into the elevator.

" Have you met my new girlfriend, Maria Menounos." Brendan asked once the elevator door closed .

" Oh,I'm a big fan of your journalism." Danny said.

"You're my hair idol I...are you two dating?" Mindy said going from being star struck to being confused .

"Yeah." Maria Menounos said with a big smile.

"Why? You could have almost anybody." Mindy said shocked. She knew Maria Menounos had done a commercial with them a few months back, but did not expect for the two of them to be dating.

"Excuse me ?" Brendan said clearly offended.

"I have never been with such a soulful person." Maria Menounos said looking adoringly at Brendan.

"This is our first Christmas together and we've just been sharing and celebrating . Oh my gosh Mindy , whats wrong with me. Here I am flaunting our blooming love and you with your engagement breakup. I'm just sorry. " Brendan said, his arm linked with his new girlfriend's.

" Hey listen pal shes fine ok, shes been going out with a lot of guys since that guy, probably too many guys, but a lot." Danny said feeling the need to defend Mindy.

" Shh That's not...too many, the right amount."

"A lot ." Danny emphasized, wanting Brendan to know Mindy wasn't wallowing in self pity.

"The normal amount." Mindy defended.

"Not really." Danny said thinking about all the men Mindy had dated after Casey.

" Really, no, no, hush, hush. The point is I'm doing fantastic. " Mindy said, she knew Danny was trying to help, but he was making it worse.

"Shes doing great." Danny chimed in.

"Mindy you don't have to shine it on in front of me ,I'm a friend . Holidays are always hardest on the lonely . Suicide rates do go up, as we all know. " Brendan said in that condescending tone of his.

"Sorry." Maria Menounos said looking at Mindy with pity. The elevator doors opened and Brendan and Maria Menounos got out .

"Bye Maria." Danny said.

"I'm actually dating someone too, , hes a handsome lawyer that works in this building ." Mindy yelled out after them,not wanting Brendan to have the last word. He'd already been so condescending in the elevator, she had to show him she was happy too. Even if that happiness was based off a lie.

" Oh, well that's, that's great." Brendan said stopping and facing the open elevator

" And its better than great its greeaat!" Mindy said her head still sticking outside of the elevator.

" Well if he works in the building , I look forward to meeting him at the party." Brendan said.

"Great." Mindy said, then refused to let Danny get off the elevator, she'd rather they go back up and come back down then have another exchange with Brendan and Maria Menounos.

"Why'd you tell Deslaurier you were dating a lawyer in the building?" Danny asked as they walked.

" Because he was rubbing dating Menounos in my face, mehnousnoos,muhnousnoos,ugh I hate him . Besides who knows , maybe at the end of the party I will be dating someone."

" I knew it, I knew it! Building wide Christmas party, all the sexy mood lighting you installed in phlebotomy ."

"Well you know ,soft lighting is good for urine samples too."

" No, no, no. This is a Christmas party sex trap so you can get to Cliff."

"Is that so wrong Danny? Is it so wrong for an unmarried twenty-three year old woman to throw a party so she can meet a man."

"You're a little nut job, and its not gonna work."

"Thank you for saying I'm little and it will work. And I'll tell you why, because I have a foul proof, four point, man catching party plan."

" Oh boy."

"Want to hear about it?"

"Not really, but..."

"You're gonna."

"I know." Danny said with a smirk.

Mindy then went on to explain the plan step by step. Step 1 included throwing the greatest party anyone had ever seen, and when the guy, ie Cliff , got there she would ignore him. Instead she'd be giving her undivided attention to the coolest guy in the room. Step 2 involved her singing a sexy version of santa baby that would be "both titillating and festive".

"Santa baby, nah, that's disgusting it sexualizes Santa." Danny said giving his opinion of that part of the plan. Mindy ignored him and moved on to step 3.

"Step 3, pretend you're overheated, say you need some air. Make him follow you to a private location. Step 4, finally alone in a romantic setting , he and I share a perfect first kiss."

"That's the stupidest plan I've ever heard." Danny said.

"You're wrong . You'll see tomorrow night when I'm tonguing Cliff in the courtyard . Come on."

"Alright ."

It was the night of the party and Mindy was in her office, she summoned Danny there. He walked over, knocking before poking his head through the slightly opened the door.

"What the hell was so important , what are you doing?"

"Come here, help me fill my bra up with wine."

" Ok, no further questions." Danny said entering the room ,closing the door ,then walking toward Mindy.

"Open this. I bought a bra that holds two bottles full of wine." Mindy explained.

" I thought this thing was supposed to be sober, for Peter."

"Peter doesn't have to know about it! My man catching plan is not gonna work without some booze Danny. Plus there's also an added benefit."

" Whats that?"

" Pour."

" Pour, ok. Here you go." Danny said. As the wine flows down the funnel, Mindy's boobs grow in size.

" You should wear that everyday." Danny said rapt with her growing chest."

"Ok, that's enough, that's enough."

" Ok, sorry..." Danny said stopping his pouring, then putting the wine bottle down, all while not being able to take his eyes off of Mindy's chest.

Mindy then rejoined the party and waited for Cliffs arrival. Cliff walked in and Mindy proceeded with the steps of her man trapping plan. Step one goes well. After, she finds Danny in the hot pipe room, where he is working on a gingerbread house, red reading glasses on his face.

"Wait a minute, whoa, whoa can you knock first please!"

"I'm not gonna knock to the hot pipe room."

"Alright, what step of the man trap are you on? Hit him over the head with a rolling pin, pull down his pants ." Danny said with a smirk.

"Ha, ha, ha, you know I don't own any cooking stuff, so jokes on you . For your information I'm on step 2 . Whoa, is that what I think it is?" Mindy said spotting the gingerbread house.

" Ok, look, close your eyes, stop it, you'll see it at the unveiling with everyone else . I'll give you a hint, its located in Virgina."

"Mount Rushmore?"

" The Massachusetts public school system has really let you down."

"I'm sorry, I'm a good looking doctor , I think it did fine."

"Ok."

" And you know what, I wish you had put this much effort in your secret santa presents."

" Oh right that reminds me...I got you this." Danny said holding out a stapler to her.

" I refuse to accept that gift. I got Peter a replica of the Dukes of Hazard car, and I barely like him. That's what a secret santa does."

"Fine."

" Hurry up, sexy routine is next." Mindy said before walking out of the hot pipe room. while Danny resumed working on his ginger bread house

When its time for step 2, Cliff is no where to be found. To make matters worse Maria Menounos hijacked her performance, taking over Mindy's sexy rendition of Santa baby. Right when Mindy had been encouraged to still sing the song, despite Cliff not being there . When she'd texted Cliff to find out where he'd gone, he'd texted back that he had left to talk to Heather. After Maria Menounos' stage stealing performance, a disappointed Mindy, went into her office to finish off her boob wine.

Which is why Danny found her sitting on the ground, next the two empty wine bottles, she was sucking on the tube connected to the now empty bra.

" Min? Are you sad about Cliff?" Danny asked, seeing Mindy barefoot and on the ground, as he entered the room.

"Sad , is when the cab driver thought I was Jaden Smith. I'm heartbroken."

" Well so what , the guy left, you weren't even dating , whats the big deal? " Danny said. He couldn't understand why she always seemed to set her sight on jerks.

"The big deal is that I threw a party with the sole purpose of getting a guy, who is still technically in a relationship, to kiss me. And then he left. I'm the most pathetic loser."

" I think I might have something that might cheer you up. From your secret Santa."

"No Danny. Look you said you didn't wanna spend money on a secret Santa, I shouldn't have expected a gift."

"Sometimes..the best gifts don't cost anything."

"I guess . If you're like a poor mouse in a Christmas special."

" Ok, here we go." Danny said, then hit play on the mp3 player, which started to play 'Aaliyah's Try again'

"When you first started working here , you used to play this non-stop . It was the first thing about you. that really annoyed me."

Danny said, then proceeded to dance to the song. He was nervous at first, but as he saw shock, then delight appear on her face, he started to smile too . Toward the end, he reached his hand out gently lifted her chin up, before pulling his hand away. As soon as his amazing dance begin it ended, and his nervousness returned.

" I know its stupid, so uh. Anyway, I can get you a gift card, or write a personal check. Don't worry about it, just don't tell Morgan, or Jeremy about it, ok?" Danny said, as he turned off the music and walked around the room. He didn't notice Mindy get up off the floor, blinking back tears as she walked over to him, standing a few inches apart.

"What are you talking about ? I loved it." Mindy said .

"You liked it?" Danny said, looking at her and seeing in her face, that she meant it.

Mindy responded to his question by nodding yes, before wrapping her arms around his neck, pulling him into a tight hug. He found his arms wrapping around her as well, and he couldn't help but relish the moment of having her so close in his arms. She pulled away from the hug, his arms still around her waist, and it was like they were back in the break room. They held each others gaze just as intensely as before, if not more so, and just as they both moved instinctively to lean in closer, the door burst open by Peter, followed by a rambling Jeremy and then Morgan.

Peter wanted her 'boob wine', and Jeremy had destroyed Danny's Monticello gingerbread house by eating most of it. After Jeremy's pep talk to Peter about pursuing women while sober, Mindy was able to make them leave . With them gone , she figured it wouldn't hurt to take a chance and try to salvage her moment with Danny.

" Hey, I was gonna get a breath of fresh air." Mindy said turning to Danny.

"Yeah, I'm gonna stay. I gotta , I gotta, clean up this mess ." Danny said referring to the destroyed ginger bread house .

" Ok."

Mindy said with a weak smile ,after hiding a quick flash of disappointment, before walking away. Danny thought about saying something as she walked away, but quickly changed his mind. He knew the implications of him following her outside, they'd talked about it earlier. Part of him wanted to follow her, but the other didn't want their first kiss to come from a man trap thought up for someone else. Mindy was drunk and vulnerable, if they were going to kiss, he'd want it to not come as a second choice, he couldn't be her rebound.

A part of him regretted his choice later, as he watched Mindy get her planned out kiss with Cliff outside in the courtyard. Mindy had proven him wrong, her plan had indeed worked. That didn't make Danny feel any better about it, but as long as she was happy, that's all that mattered.

So Mindy started dating Cliff , they went through the usual firsts of a relationship. Since it was winter Cliff decided he wanted to take Mindy on a romantic weekend getaway to go skiing. When he mentioned a hot tub, Mindy became subconscious about her body.

After a failed enlistment of Morgan as her personal trainer, she convinced Danny to train her at his gym. After their workout, Mindy decided to check out the steam room, which she didn't realize was co-ed. She ended up seeing Danny naked and him seeing her, she also sprained her foot. Later Danny managed to again see her naked ,an incident that involved an owl. She then earned some insights about her body from him.

"Yeah, whoa."

"OH, hello." Mindy said bursting into Danny's office, knocking on his door."

"You hear that sound."

"Yeah, I did."

"That is the sound of a knock Danny."

"I know what it is."

"That is what we do in civilized society , when we want to enter a room."

"Whoa Mindy is that you, I didn't recognize you with all your clothes on." Danny said with a smirk.

"That's my hilarious line from wiener night, get an original zing for once in your life . Did you write it down." Mindy said spotting a paper on his desk.

"No." Danny said denying it.

"Look just because you have like 0% body fat and only eat three meals a day and barely ever snack. Doesn't mean you have the right to tell me whats wrong with my body."

"I am your personal trainer,Body by Dan!"

"More like body by fired, cause you're fired !"

"What!"

"Oh yeah, and for the record there is nothing you can criticize about this situation that I haven't already heard from every mean girl for my entire life !"

"What situation, I'm not..ok, you're right I shouldn't have mentioned it."

"I know that I could lose fifteen pounds, I know that I don't have this perfect skinny hot body like all the girls that you date . I know that one of my boobs is crazily bigger than the other...don't look! I know that I have upper knee fat ,and I know that I have a scar on my back that looks like a swastika. You don't think that, that's never come up every single time I've dated a Jewish guy."

"You have one!"

"A Jewish guy in my life?"

"No, a swastika?"

"Yes, the latter!"

"I didn't even notice that."

"Maybe you could get cataract surgery old man!"

"My eyes are fine . Look, ok , alright I get it, you're subconscious , but you have no reason to be. All I was gonna say was don't suck in your stomach so much , it makes you , it make you look nervous and frankly a little constipated ." Danny said sincerely.

"And get a boob job." Mindy chimed in.

"No, that's not what I was gonna say."

"And get rid of the cellulite on your legs."

"No."

"And have blue eyes."

"No, I don't want that."

"Oh."

"You're a woman and that's good, look like a woman."

"Ok."

Danny went on to say that, that was just his honest opinion as her trainer. Mindy thanked him, and after a couple of other unwanted comments she left the room.


	9. Heartfelt Letters and Sexy Kisses

Things continued to go well with Cliff. That was until her, Danny, Morgan and Peter's trip to Los Angeles for another medical conference. Mindy ended up bumping into Casey and going to a party that he was throwing for his new line of shoes. A party she lied to Cliff about going to, this resulted in Cliff breaking up with her. After wallowing for a bet, Mindy decided she wouldn't give up that she was going to win cliff back. Danny though, got in the way of her plans when he 'kidnapped' her to have him go with her to see his dad who was currently living in California.

Mindy met his dad and his little sister, who was also named Dani. After a slightly awkward dinner with Alan and Dani, Mindy once again took off for the airport, this time driving herself. She was almost there, when Danny managed to screw with her plans once again by getting lost in the desert. Mindy came to his rescue and after getting lost together and stumbling onto a military base, Danny's Dad bailed them out.

They spent the next day at little Dani's soccer game before heading to the airport. That's when the moment that would change everything happened.

" Danny, Danny." Mindy said trying to get his attention as they sat on the New York bound plane.

" No. I'm not gonna get up again so you can walk the aisles, you're not gonna get thrombosis , I don't care what the Today Show says, I don't care." Danny said barely looking up from his book.

" Its not that, I want to apologize. It took a lot for you to make peace with your dad, I mean you did it in a completely melodramatic way. I could have gone without wandering around the desert, I sat on a armadillo, killed it ,that was not good for my self esteem, but you're not mean , you're great." Mindy said smiling shyly at him.

" Hey , look and I'm sorry about what I said about Cliff. You weren't lucky to be with him, he was lucky to be with you... Hows that letter going ?" Danny said quickly changing the subject, before he let something slip that he shouldn't.

" Can I read you the first part?" Mindy said wanting to get his perspective ,and possibly his approval of her letter. Going to Danny for his approval or disapproval,whether she listened to it or not, even more then she had with Gwen, had become a habit with her. When exactly, she couldn't pinpoint.

"Sure." Danny said laying his head back against the headrest as Mindy read to him what she'd written so far.

"No, No, that, that's not , can I help you?" Danny said imagining Cliff's reaction if Mindy sent him what she had written so far. It wouldn't solve anything, most likely it would make things worse. Mindy and Cliff not reuniting wouldn't be the worst thing in the world, a thought he quickly shook out of his head.

" Ok." Mindy said willing to accept his help. Danny was often right, something she would never admit out loud, let alone to him directly.

"Ok... how about something like this...Dear Cliff please forgive me, I'm sorry I was so stupid and reckless with your heart." Danny said after taking a moment to think.

"Oh My God ,keep it coming little Shakespeare." Mindy said clearly impressed.

" Ok. You know you're right for someone when they force you to be the best version of yourself. That's how I know we're right for each other Cliff . " Danny says. He couldn't help but sneak little glance at Mindy as he said those words.

Mindy finishes typing and sends the email, while Danny keeps glancing at her. Wishing he had said all those things, replacing Cliffs name with hers. After she hit send ,she turned to face Danny again.

"Hey, I really appreciate this, thank you so much, and as payment, one tonic water." Mindy said her spirits high and anticipatory of reconciliation with Cliff.

"Thanks." Danny said, he couldn't help himself gently guiding her with his hand as she got out the seating area and toward the aisle of the plane.

"I will be right back." Mindy said before making her way down the aisle and toward the back of the plane.

Danny sat in his seat smile on his face, suddenly the plane started to shake he froze out of fear in his seat, mind racing , heart beating and hand reaching for someone who wasn't there. When the turbulence stopped he knew what he would have to do.

" Hey." Danny said, despite his voice being low and raspy she heard him.

"Hey Danny ,all these waters look the same, I just don't..." Mindy says turning toward him.

But before she could utter another word, Danny moved in closer to her grabbing the water from her hand,depositing it elsewhere, and in the same swift motion, gently grabbing her face in his hands and joining his lips with hers, gently and sensually kissing her.

This completely took her by surprise. Then he took a second to stop and look at her in away she'd never seen. His eyes glued to hers, his hands lovingly caressing her face, before moving in again to reclaim her lips.

This time a little more prepared, she responded to his kiss, wrapping her arms around his neck, pulling them closer so that there was no space left between their hands moved from his neck to his back then again to his neck, deepening the kiss. As his hands groped her butt ,and her back, before moving back up to her face.


	10. Aftermath

After the kiss, she'd gone back to Cliff. They were back together but something had definitely changed, every now and again she'd flash back to the way he'd gently held her face after the initial kiss, the way he appreciated all of her with his hands, as his lips were connected to hers and their tongues were at war with each other.

Yeah, she'd kissed Danny back. She'd also been guilty of exploring his body, with her hands, wrapping her arms around his neck and pulling him closer. But when the kiss was broken, rational thought returned. She'd hurried into the airplanes lavatory looking the door behind her. She wasn't sure how long she was in there, but when she walked out, Danny wasn't where she had left him. She made her way down the aisle of the plane, dragging her feet with every step, dread of what she'd find when she reached their seats.

What she saw caught her by surprise. Danny was there sitting in his seat, book in his hand, like nothing had happened. He got up without a word allowing Mindy to slide in and take her seat. Both were silent for a few minutes before Danny broke the silence.

"Lets just pretend that didn't happen, ok?" Danny said.

"Ok." Mindy said nodding, before turning her head to face the window, she didn't want Danny to see her tears.

Mindy had ran away because she was scared, but she didn't expect Danny to give up so easily. Danny, though, had read her reaction as she didn't feel like the kiss meant something. She was probably just caught up in the moment when she kissed him back. He started to panic when she ran away and he decided that the best thing to do now was for them to agree that, the kiss had never happened and just resume their friendship.

So when the plane landed the two went their separate ways. Mindy went to her apartment, and found Cliff waiting for her. He apologized about overreacting, and would not stop talking about the letter . She made him shut up with a kiss, then pulled away said she was tired and that they would talk the next day. After Cliff left, Mindy felt so empty, the kiss with Cliff was nothing compared to the one she'd shared with Danny. Which probably had to do with the fact that her kisses with Cliff were now one sided, all she could think about was Danny, stupid Danny.

Cliff and her had been back together for two weeks. They had been taking things slow as they tried to rebuild their relationship. She was having dinner with Cliff and he was going on about some clients of his, leaving out names of course, and Mindy was barely listening. As she sat there, a shell of herself, something snapped.

"What am I doing?" Mindy said, not realizing she'd spoken out loud when Cliff responded.

"What do you mean?" Cliff asked confused.

"I'm sorry Cliff, but I can't do this anymore." Mindy said .

"Can't do what?" Cliff asked.

"This...us...this isn't working, we don't belong together Cliff." Mindy said standing up from the table.

"But you said, in your letter..." Cliff began, but Mindy cut him off.

"Those weren't my words, those were Danny's." Mindy confessed.

"I don't understand, what is going on Mindy?" Cliff said getting more and more confused by the second.

"I'm breaking up with you. I can't be with you when I have strong feelings for someone else, I thought they would go away, but they didn't and its not fair to you, or me that we continue our relationship..." Mindy said blinking back tears and starting to walk away.

"Was it Casey, was I right!" Cliff said, snapping out of his confusion and into anger. Mindy stopped walking and turned to face him.

"No, no it wasn't Casey. I really am sorry Cliff." Mindy said sincerely .

"Who...who is it then?" Cliff asked.

"Someone who was right in front of me the whole time." Mindy said, walking away, this time Cliff didn't stop her.

Mindy went home, cried some more and downed a bottle of wine. She then sobered and cleaned herself up. After a quick pep talk she left her apartment, she had a man to see about a kiss.

Danny sat on the floor, drink in hand. He'd tried, he'd been trying for weeks to get over Mindy. To get rid of that awful feeling he'd gotten in his stomach, when she'd agreed to forget the kiss had never happened between. He thought they'd be able to get back to normal, but it hurt to be around her, so he avoided her. As much as anyone can ignore Mindy Lahiri. He didn't outright ignore her at work, but he longer hung around after work to hear her plans, or random stories.

Suddenly he heard loud knocking at his door. Glancing at the clock he saw it was 2 am, who in their right mind would be knocking at his door this late. He begrudgingly got up heading for his door, when the knock wouldn't stop. He didn't want to wake up his neighbors. He looked through his peephole and his breath caught in his throat. He opened the door to reveal Mindy.

" Danny, I'm so sorry." Mindy said tears in her eyes.

"Mindy, Min, whats wrong?" Danny said pulling her into his arms without a second thought. He broke the hug motioning for her to enter his apartment, closing the door behind him. They walked over to his couch, Mindy wiping the tears from her eyes as Danny patiently sat next to her.

" I ruined things didn't I?" Mindy said.

"Ruined what?" Danny said confused.

"This, us, Danny, It's all my fault I ran away and I broke us." Mindy said.

"Min..." Danny said, but Mindy interrupted him.

" I know you probably hate me Danny, but I was just so scared, that kiss was amazing, but I panicked, I didn't wanna lose you, I couldn't lose our friendship. I ended up losing it anyways." Mindy said putting her head down and starting to cry again.

"Hate you, Min, I could never hate you, I..."

"You what Danny?" Mindy asked looking at him.

"I'm in love with you. It's why I kissed you. Why I couldn't let that plane land, before I showed you how I feel." Danny said.

" Danny..." Mindy began but this time Danny interrupted her.

"I know you don't feel the same way, and that you're back with Cliff and with time I guess I could be ok with us being friends. All I know is I can't live without you be..." Danny said and again Mindy cut him off again.

"Shut up you idiot, I broke up with Cliff I told him I had feelings for someone else, for you..." Mindy said then kissed him.

"You do?" Danny said not quite believing it when they broke the kiss.

"No, I just kissed you for no reason." Mindy said sarcastically. Danny responded with a smirk before reconnecting his lips with hers.

That moment led them to a few months later, their first valentines day. A few months after that they moved in together. A year later they were engaged then married. Nine months after that their first child was born, a daughter Chloe and then her twin a son Robbie. It was a long journey, filled with ups and downs, tears and heartbreak, but all those steps led to their happily ever after .

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> That's the complete story,thanks for reading. For some Dandy family fluff, check out my story"Baby Names" , it is essentially what happens next, and the sequel to this story "Living Happily Ever After " picks up from "Baby names" and will be posted soon, so look out for that. You can also read my stories at fanfiction.net under the name Pessimistic Romanticist and Follow me on tumblr at minidiangrowl.  
> -P.Rom


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